Line in the sand

T minus 40

It seems Nocton Dairies Ltd have possibly made their last ditch attempt at persuading NKDC to grant planning permission for their industrial mega-dairy.

In response to the many objections and requests for further information, the following documents have now been submitted:

Document and Content

292165 - Environmental Statement addendum and erratum; NKDC planning officer responses
292166 - Responses to Environment Agency objections
292167 - Groundwater risk assessment summary
292168 - Revised groundwater risk assessment Part 1
292169 - Revised groundwater risk assessment Part 2
292170 - Diffuse groundwater pollutant appraisal
292171 - Anticipated tree growth rates; Sustainability Statement; Revised B1188 junction
292174 - Proposed sand separation system; Slurry injection system; Anaerobic Digester
292175 - Figures - Indicative access revision to B1188; Impact of landscape mitigation

Interestingly, I emailed the Planning Officers Society just the other day asking for clarification on the 'evaluation phase' of the planning process.

"I would like the answer to a couple of questions please, on good practice of planning process.

1. Once the consultee period has ended and contributions have been received, is it normal protocol for the Planning Officer to allow the applicant to continue submitting further documentation / reports in support of their application?

2. If this is good practice, does this entitle a further 21 day consultation period for consultees?

3. At what point does a Planning Officer say to the applicants, I'm sorry no further information can now be accepted. The application has to stand or fall on its merits with the documentation that's before me now."

It may be that Nocton Dairies have now answered that question for me. The last paragraph of document 292166 is quite telling:

"We acknowledge that this is a complex application and that all parties are working together to address concerns regarding the environmental impact of the proposed development. The Applicant would be pleased to clarify any of the above matters, but recognises that, given the time schedules imposed by NKDC, submission of further substantive information would not be appropriate."

It would therefore appear to me that NKDC have possibly drawn that line in the sand for Nocton Dairies. If this is the case, I have to say 'about time too'.

Planning Process - what next?

I have endeavoured to outline the procedures leading up to and beyond the planning hearing:

For details on the planning hearing - see here: http://nocton.blogspot.com/2011/01/milk-prices.html

For other detail - see here: http://nocton.blogspot.com/2011/01/countdown-to-pancake-day.html

Elections

You may like to be reminded that the District and Parish elections are due in May where you can exercise your vote - see here: http://nocton.blogspot.com/2011/01/council-business.html

There is rumour abound that some activists are considering standing in the District Elections as Independent candidates, on the single-issue of the dairy, targeting the particular Wards where a Councillor has voted in favour of planning permission.

This of course will depend on a 'Recorded Vote' being requested. It is hoped that sufficient Councillors will make this request in order that voters can see who was for and against the Nocton Dairy planning application. After all, in a democracy this sort of information should really be released into the public domain shouldn't it?

The Council has 43 members representing 26 wards. The current political make up of the Council is:

25 Conservative
6 NK Independent
4 Liberal Democrat
4 Independent
2 Sleaford Independent and
2 Skellingthorpe Independent.

Big society plans raise concerns for parliamentary democracy

'Civil service boss orders inquiry into impact of bill as critics warn providers may be less accountable.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/21/big-society-parliamentary-democracy
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